Grand Prairie Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association

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Annual Fundraiser Rummage Sale at Traders Village 2017.10.21

National Night Out 2017.10.3

Volunteers needed to visit different locations this evening. Please Joe Wood or Greg New to sign up.

CPA Class 42 will begin shortly

The Grand Prairie Police Department Citizen Police Academy (CPA) is an educational program designed to familiarize the public with the nature of police work. Participants are encouraged to share this realistic view of the Department with other citizens. The goal is to improve the efficiency of law enforcement in their neighborhoods through open lines of communication, shared responsibilities and resources.

The CPA program is a series of 10 class sessions held on Thursday evenings (starting at 6:30pm) and 3 Saturday sessions. To successfully graduate, each participant is required to attend at least 10 of the 13 sessions.

There is no cost to attend the CPA. Graduates of the Grand Prairie Citizen Police Academy are NOT trained to be police officers or vigilantes. The purpose of the CPA is to educate attendees so they can make informed judgments about the police department as they become ambassadors of good will to the community.

Residents who live or work in Grand Prairie are invited to apply. Participants must possess a valid Texas driver’s license; agree to a criminal background check; be 21 years old or older; and not convicted of a felony.

October 4, 2016 - National Night Out

October 1, 2016 - CPAAA Annual Garage Sale

Share this link with everyone!

Here is our link to North Texas Giving Day share with everyone you know so we can get donations.

June 2016 - TXCOP convention in Grand Prairie

Last week GPPD hosted the 2016 Texas Citizens on Patrol Association Annual Conference where over 200 COP’s from around the state attended with over 30 police agencies represented. This was the largest TCOPA conference to date!

Congratulations to the Grand Prairie Police Department’s Citizens on Patrol for winning the Large COP Agency of 2016 - four years running!

Congratulations to Bob Addison for winning the 2016 Coordinator of the Year Award presented by the TCOPA!

Congratulations to Gary Brooks and Bob Addison for receiving the Legacy Award presented by the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association and the GP Citizens on Patrol!

Cops & Kids Fishing 2016

The GP Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association donated the funds to pay for stocking Mike Lewis lake with fish and many volunteers came out to give their Saturday morning to the kids, building relationships of trust and mutual respect.

GPCPAAA Volunteer Opportunity thru Santa Cop, Santa Spot

There are plenty of ways to help our community through Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association. Contact Debra at [email protected] for more information on volunteering at Santa Cop and/or Santa Spot. Remember to wear your CPAAA shirts when volunteering.

GPCPAAA decorated the Public Safety Building in support of the Grand Prairie Police Department with Blue Ribbons and Wreaths. Sept. 27, 2015

Citizens Police Academy Alumni of North Texas - September 12 2015 at 10am

Grand Prairie CPA will be hosting the monthly meeting at the Public Safety Building...

Events will begin at 10am and end at 12pm. Then meet at local eatery for lunch.

Cops and Kids Fishing event to be held in June 2015

GPCPAAA donated funds to this event in hopes of helping the officers engage the kids in our community.

2015 Annual Police Department Banquet

The banquet was held at the Grand Ballroom at Asia Times Square, with almost 400 in attendance. American type cuisine was served "Asian Family style," introducing many to a new way of sharing a meal.

Grand Prairie Lights 2014

Ten of our members volunteered for Grand Prairie Lights on Thursday, December 4th.

For the first time in four years, we had excellent weather and a good crowd. This is always a fun volunteer activity and once again it made you feel good seeing the little kids looking around taking it in. Thanks volunteers!

GPCPAAA Makes a Donation to Lake Patrol

GPCPAAA made a donation of 3 binoculars to the Grand Prairie police department 'sLake Patrol.

GPCPAAA Makes $2000.00 Donation

GPCPAAA made a donation to the Grand Prairie police department ‘sExplorer's group.The group, consisting of 16-20 young adults, train and are exposed to police situations, rulesandregulations and how to handle themselves to be officers.The funds will be used for travel expenses for competitions.

GPCPAAA Host Region 2 CPAAANT Monthly Meeting

GPCPAAA was proud to host the August 2014 monthly meeting.We had a good turnout of approximately 16-20 members cities.Our community room was completely full of CPA members.Once again, our Hospitality Committee did an outstanding job in providing refreshments for the group. It could not have happened without the generous donations from various retail businesses and individuals.We would like to thank the Chamber of Commerce for providing labor and items for the meeting.Job well done by everyone!

GPPD Motorcycle Competition Huge Success

The four day event with participation from motorcycle officers from all over Texas and a team from Louisiana.The alumni and the VRM group provided volunteer labor for track events on Wednesday and Thursday.The professionals took over Friday and Saturday.The VRM did a great job on providing drinks and food throughout the event.The COP group did volunteer work on traffic control on Saturday.The Event was held on the Home Depot parking lot located at Camp Wisdom and 360. Funds raised went to the Special Olympics.

GPCPAAA Makes a Donation to GPPD Color Guard

GPCPAAA made a donation to the Grand Prairie police department ‘sColor Guard.

GPPD Teen Academy

Alumni volunteers helped provide adult supervision during the June 16-20th Teen Academy. Alumni volunteers and resident volunteers covered the five day event. Students, who where recommended by their respective school within Grand Prairie, participated in the program which consisted of all aspects of the police department.The teens were given a “jail lunch” and introduced to the area. Good time was had by all!

Grand Prairie Police Department Awards Banquet 2014

The GPCPAAA would like to congratulate all the 2014 award winners and thank all the men and women of the Police Department for their service.

The Grand Prairie Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association had a busy and fun year in 2013. With a membership of 110 at year end, all members had an opportunity to help or be involved in our various projects.Many of our members work full time jobs, therefore volunteer support comes from all directions and times.

Above all we know we are helping our Grand Prairie Police Department.We have been successful in our three main projects; support the twice a yearCPA classes in whatever they need; organize andhost the Annual Grand Prairie Police Department Awards Banquet; and organize the annual rummage sale to raise funds.

In 2013 we had 14 projects completed with the knowledge that we did our best and the projects were well deserving.Some of the projects we supported and helped were the Police Honor Guard, the Explores Group, the K-9 Unit, Halloween donations, the EMT group, National Night Out, the Chief’s appreciation outing for officers, and the Santa Cop Program.

We do have one activity outside the police department, which is volunteering our labor for the annual “Prairie Lights”.We are delighted to volunteer for this Grand Prairie program.

We look forward to a wonderful 2014 year.If you are not a member, please attend a Citizen Police Academy class held by the Grand Prairie Police Department and then join our organization.For information on the CPA classes go to http://www.gptx.org/index.aspx?page=610 or call the GPPD Volunteer Coordinator 972-237-8998.

Prairie Lights

GPCPAAA for the third time provided volunteer help at various stations to support the City of Grand Prairie's " Prairie Lights" on December 23, 2013. All members had a good time and enjoyed helping the Parks & Rec. Department

Rummage/Outdoor Sale September 14, 2013

Rummage Sale of September 14, 2013 was very successful. Funds raised have gone to items that the Grand Prairie Police Department were in need of. Not only did we do the sale on Friday, and Saturday, we extended it to Sunday. All areas of sales items sold very well. We would like to thank everyone for their donations, especially the police officers.

This was our first rummage sale, and as usually, you learn what works and what does not work. By early indications, we will do another rummage sale in 2014. We will stay away from large furniture items.

Volunteers

Some of our GPCPAAA members volunteer for the Grand Prairie Police Department's new Citizens on Patrol (COP) and Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) programs.

These programs provide the opportunity for trained citizen volunteers to assist their police department with designated non-confrontational activities as citizen patrollers and administrative volunteers in order to increase citizen understanding and participation in police activities, enhance crime prevention, and provide additional resources to improve service to the community.

Grand Prairie Police Officers Run for Special Olympics

Led by Grand Prairie Police Chief Steve Dye, Grand Prairie Police Officers will run 4.8 miles to show support for Special Olympics at the 2012 Law Enforcement Torch Run on Wednesday, May 23, 8:30 a.m.-11 a.m. The event is not a fund raiser, but just a show of support for children with special needs in Grand Prairie. Students from schools on the route will stand in front of their schools to cheer for the runners. The schedule is as follows:

• 8:40 a.m. Begin at SE 14th St. and Skyline at 8:30 a.m. and head to Crockett Elementary School, 1340 Skyline Road.

• 9 a.m. Leave Crockett Elementary and head east on Skyline to SE 14th to Williams Elementary, 1635 SE 14th St. and Arnold Middle School, 1204 E. Marshall Dr. 9:15 a.m. – Officers will meet and greet students at Arnold Middle School

• 9:25 am. Leave Arnold Middle School and head south on SE 14th to Bonham Elementary, 1301 E. Coral Way where they will be having field day

• 9:45 a.m. Leave Bonham Elementary and head west on E. Coral Way, north on Varsity and west on E. Marshall to SE 4th Street to Seguin Elementary School, 1450 SE 4th St. 10 a.m. – Officers will meet and greet students at Sequin Elementary School

• 10:15 a.m. Leave Seguin Elementary and run one mile south on SE 4th to Kennedy Middle School, 2205 SE 4th St. 10:30 a.m. – Officers will meet and greet students at Kennedy Middle School

• 10:45 a.m. Leave Kennedy Middle School and run east on Nunez to Acosta, south on Acosta to Lakeview, east on Lakeview to South Belt Line Road and south to 2600 S. Belt Line Road.

On March 21, 2012 the Grand Prairie Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association hosted the “Annual Grand Prairie Police Awards Banquet” at the Ruthe Jackson Center. The banquet was held to recognize special achievement and award certificates and meritorious service bars to police officers and personal for the 2011-12 year.

The master of ceremonies for the banquet was Rick Herold, Director of Grand Prairie Parks and Recreation. The banquet dinner had remarks by: Mayor Charles England, City Manager Tom Hart, and Police Chief Steve Dye with Robert E. Casey, Jr. , special agent in charge of the FBI Dallas field office, as a guest speaker and Emil Balliet, Grand Prairie Department chaplain, giving the Invocation.

Among the awards this year was a special recognition for Sergeant Chris Chopin for his 32 years of service within the SWAT unit.

We would like to thank ours sponsors for their support.

New Citizens on Patrol Program

On January 1st, 2012 the current non profit Citizens on Patrol will cease to exist. It is being replaced with the new Citizens on Patrol under the City of Grand Prairie.

The Grand Prairie Police Department's Citizens On Patrol (COP) program provides the opportunity for trained citizen volunteers to assist their police department with designated non-confrontational activities as citizen patrollers and administrative volunteers in order to increase citizen understanding and participation in police activities, enhance crime prevention, and provide additional resources to improve service to the community.

COP volunteers help patrol the city in specially marked decommissioned police cars. Members are trained to work with the police department to act as additional "eyes and ears" to help to report criminal activity and issues requiring the attention of city resources.

Members of the new Citizens on Patrol will be Volunteer employees of the City of Grand Prairie. These steps are being taken because the City will be providing official training, uniforms and vehicles for use by the Citizens on Patrol. They will also takeover manning & moving the SkyBox’s around the City. You can apply for the COP program here. You do not need to be a member of the GPCPAAA to apply.

Congratulations to Lieutenant Robert Severance who will be transferred to head the new Community Services division. He will will oversee the Citizens on Patrol program as well as many other community oriented programs. One of which will be Volunteers in Police Service or VIPS later in 2012.

The GPCPAAA will continue to support and promote the Grand Prairie Police Department and the Grand Prairie Citizens Police Academy classes through volunteer and fundraising activities as well as providing candidates for these new programs.

CPA Alumni Recognizes Police K9 Officers

At the September meeting, the CPA Alumni recognized the hard work and dedication of the Grand Prairie K9 Unit. In March, all 4 Officers and thier canine partners earned high honors in the United States Police Canine Association's field trials held in Cedar Hill. Gift certificates were presented to the Officers along with community donations from PetSmart and treats from Bil Jac.